Published inGlobetrotters·PinnedMember-onlyBehind the Scenes: An Airline Insider’s Perspective and Lessons LearnedDon’t forget your underwear — I have made my rounds in aviation — as a flight attendant, a gate agent, a ramp agent, and in ticketing. As a gate agent for American Airlines at O’Hare, folks baulked at my employment history, moving from charter flight attendant for three years to gate agent. “YOU WENT BACKWARDS!”…Travel6 min readTravel6 min read
Published inAbout Me Stories·PinnedMember-onlyAbout Me — Melissa RachHow to write… — How do you write for Medium? How do I write for Medium? This is usually when I stop writing. I have a graduate degree. I studied English Literature in college. I’ve written pages and pages of papers, including a 30-something page capstone, a paper where I mimicked J.D. Salinger’s prose…About Me5 min readAbout Me5 min read
Published inGlobetrotters·18 hours agoMember-onlyHiking for the Non-HikerWho says Minnesota doesn’t have mountains — If you, like me, want to hike but are clueless where to begin (and starting is the hardest part, it’s true) — you have reached the right place. I currently live in the Twin Cities Metro of Minnesota and have friends by the dozen who are killing it on the…Globetrotter6 min readGlobetrotter6 min read
Published inGlobetrotters·22 hours agoMember-onlyNoticing in Spain and ItalyTaking notes — Where to begin? I am back in the United States after 14 days in Madrid, Barcelona, and Rome. I have been to Europe. Many times. The difference now is that I am paying attention. Here are some musings, a few observations, not anyone’s perspective but my own. Travel = growth…Globetrotter7 min readGlobetrotter7 min read
Published inGlobetrotters·Apr 23Member-onlyPlanning for Rome and BarcelonaHelp! It’s been ten years since I’ve been in Europe — Ok, I have a story. Back up to 2009. I was teaching English in Madrid for a summer. After an evening out, my friends helped me find and board a bus that would allegedly take me home. It was late at night and eventually I was the only passenger on…Travel Writing7 min readTravel Writing7 min read
Published inGlobetrotters·Apr 17Member-onlyUnassuming Cities, Part IIYou don’t know, ’til you go — Part two. I have been itching to share more unassuming cities. If you missed part one, here it is: Unassuming Cities, Part I Oh the places you’ll go!medium.com I have photos of some cities by the dozens, and others, maybe one. These pieces are actually serving me as a sort of blog — capturing the memories before they’re gone. …Travel6 min readTravel6 min read
Published inIn Living Color·Apr 15Member-onlyKnowing The North ShoreCovid-19 introduced us and we’ll never be the same — Good things did happen during Covid. For me, I discovered the North Shore of Minnesota. Lake Superior, one of the five Great Lakes, is 31,700 square miles, making it the largest lake in the U.S. You will hear some call the lake “Gitchi-gami” or “Gichigami,” which originated with the Anishinaabe…North Shore4 min readNorth Shore4 min read
Published inGlobetrotters·Apr 9Member-onlyUnassuming Cities, Part IOh the places you’ll go! — Working for a charter airline, I had zero say in the matter of where I was traveling and often very little notice. Minimum “show time” at the airport was 1.5 hours. I vividly remember one experience… I was on Reserve the day prior to my birthday, subject to be called…Kuwait6 min readKuwait6 min read
Published inILLUMINATION·Apr 4Member-onlyConfidence, FleetingExploring confidence and why it’s so flakey — Have you ever become completely obsessed with an artist? A musician? The character in your book? An actor? You went home and did a complete deep dive — Google, IMDB, checked their social media page, are they married? Where do they live? What’s their schtick? I was in a deluxe…Confidence2 min readConfidence2 min read
Published inILLUMINATION·Mar 28Member-onlyAldi Items I Keep In StockAldi. If I could have a love/hate relationship with a grocery store, this would be it — Grocery shopping is difficult without a system. I have developed a preference for products from six to eight different stores, it’s a problem. I have learned to pick and choose, settle. I live in the United States, in Minnesota to be exact, and there are many options for grocery stores…Grocery Shopping5 min readGrocery Shopping5 min read
